


Heliosis

by bonsaiScribbler



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AU, F/F, Mermaids, genderbender
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 19:54:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1317289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bonsaiScribbler/pseuds/bonsaiScribbler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aomine is a fisherman's daughter. One day she meets a golden mermaid. She has to meet her again.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heliosis

**Author's Note:**

> Heliosis is a term for being out in the sun for too long.
> 
> I'm not a native speaker. The whole thing is cheesy and there'll probably a lot of mistakes. Enjoy anyway.

Heliosis

 

For as long as Aomine could remember her father had been telling her stories about the sea. Her mother had always laughed and pretended to be jealous. She had teased her husband about how he loved the sea so much more than her. He had always denied that and told her that there was nothing he loved more than his family, but Aomine had seen in his eyes that it wasn't quite true. 

When her father took her out fishing with him for the first time, she began to understand why he loved the sea so much. The sparkling blue and the high waves made her heart beat faster. Her farther scolded her and told her to pay attention, while he taught her how to fix torn nets and which fish were good and which wouldn't sell. 

By the time Aomine turned ten, she was as good of a cabin boy as the other boys her age. Quite often boys would tease her for her short hair and her boyish behavior. When they were feeling especially mean, they'd throw stones and call her names. At first she used to cry and hide from them, but when her father caught them one time, he scolded not only them, but her as well. 

That day he took her with him to the tavern, where the old fishermen met and the cabin boys weren't allowed into. That day she heard stories about mermaids, who lured men into their arms and drowned them. Their voices were said to entice any man and their beauty was said to make the gods cry. 

Her father used to warn her about mermaids when she was younger, told her never to swim too far out on her own or a mermaid would snatch her and take her to Davy Jones. As she listened to the old fishermen, she scoffed, those tales were nothing more than fantasies of old men. They had probably been out in the sun for too long and had been confusing seals for mermaids, she told her mother. Her father hadn't been there to hear her, but her mother had told her to never let her father catch her ridiculing the fishermen's stories. 

The younger fishermen, however, seemed to have no mothers to tell them the same. They shamelessly mocked the older fishermen, calling them superstitious and antiquated. When her father heard them, he just shook his head and told Aomine that they would learn soon enough, but that he'd prefer her to listen to him. So she did. She never swam out too far, and never sailed the boat past The Wife's Despair. When she had been too young to ride the boat with her father, she had asked her mother why the huge rock in the sea was called The Wife's Despair. It was because those, who sailed past that rock might never come back, her mother explained. That's where the mermaids were waiting to lure the men into their death.

The younger fishermen had laughed and told her that there were no mermaids, just hidden currents that could easily crush several boats. When several of the younger fishermen disappeared after going past The Wife's Despair, the younger fishermen blamed the currents, while the old fishermen shot each other knowing looks and reminded the younger ones not to sail there. 

After Aomine turned twelve, her father fell ill, and it was up to her to go fishing and put food on the table. While it was only temporary, Aomine felt elated to be able to sail to wherever she wanted. Her mother warned her every day not to go too far, but one day when she felt stronger and smarter than all other fishermen her age, she decided to try out the currents. Past the currents were schools of fish, just waiting to be caught, she told herself. She wasn't going to look for mermaids, but to catch fish to feed her family.  
Once she was past The Wife's Despair, all she felt was disappointment. There were no currents, no school of fish, and certainly no mermaids. 

She waited for hours.

The sun rose high and the waves became slower. Everything seemed too slow and too warm. When the sky began to darken, Aomine gave up, staring at the small amount of fish she had caught. This adventure hadn't been worth it. She was angry with herself for believing the childish stories about mermaids and for wasting a whole day. 

As she began to set everything up for her return, she caught a glimpse of something shimmering in the water. It might just be a reflection of the fading sun, but the spot was odd. Silently she crept to the railing, net in her hands and sneaked a look. There in the water was a glimmering golden mermaid, staring right back at her. Startled Aomine dropped the net and the mermaid disappeared deeper into the water. 

“Wait!” Aomine called, but the mermaid was long gone. 

To say that her father was disappointed, was an understatement. Upon learning that his daughter had disobeyed him, he had forbidden her to sail out on her own again. His health had slowly been improving, and he decided that it was time for Aomine to learn homely duties and help her mother, while he set out alone. She was no longer a child, and would be married once he found a man suitable for her, he told her.

The fight that followed could be heard all throughout the village. No matter how much Aomine yelled, begged and tried to persuade her father otherwise, his mind was set. The people in the village began to talk about how Aomine had been out in the sun for too long. Mermaids were old fishermen's tales. Nothing else. The old fishermen looked at her with pitying eyes, and the young fishermen laughed at her.

For years Aomine wandered to the sea shore, staring out, hoping to catch a glimpse of the mermaid. On one occasion she had stolen her father's boat and gone past The Wife's Despair, waiting for the mermaid to appear. And just as it was beginning to turn dark, a golden shimmer appeared in the water. Slowly the mermaid rose until her head was above the water. She was just as beautiful as the tales said. Her hair was blond, and her eyes glittering gold. 

“... hello.” said Aomine.

“Hello.” said the mermaid, smiling up at Aomine. 

“I'm Aomine.” she introduced herself. “I've been looking for you.”

“I know.” replied the mermaid. She rose a little higher to look more closely at Aomine. “You've grown.”

Suddenly the urge to tell the mermaid everything rose in Aomine. How her father had forbidden her from ever riding his boat again, how the fishermen mocked her, how no one believed that the mermaid existed, how she had wanted to meet her again. She knew the stories, knew that the mermaids could drive a grown man mad. She knew she had to be careful, and maybe she could capture the mermaid and take her home to prove them wrong. But it felt so wrong. This was her mermaid. 

“What's your name?” She asked. Leaning closer to the water. “You know mine. So tell me yours.”

“Kise.” said the mermaid. “I'm Kise.”

A shout interrupted their meeting. Startled, Aomine rose. The fishermen had come to get the boat back. She was about to tell Kise to leave, but she was already gone. 

The fishermen were merciless when they caught up with her. They beat her and put her in chains - stealing a boat was a crime that no one would easily forgive. For a few days she was locked in a cell, her parents not even coming to visit her. Her whole body ached from the beating, but she had decided that she would become a fisherman herself. She would sail out and meet Kise again. 

Her parents refused to speak to her for weeks.

Her mother stared at her with red-rimmed eyes, and her father never looked at her anymore. She did every task her parents ordered her to do without question or complaint. No matter how hard she worked, nothing would ever be the same. The mermaid had messed up her family. Slowly Aomine became convinced that nothing was her fault, that Kise had been the one to ruin everything. If she hadn't shown herself to Aomine, nothing would have happened. Aomine had done nothing wrong.

After a while the people in the village began to treat her normal again, and she decided to get work. She would capture the mermaid and prove all of them wrong, she kept telling herself. They would see that nothing was her fault and that Kise, with her enticing beauty, had been the one to confuse her, that she had killed all the fishermen, who had ever gone past The Wife's Despair. She was sure of that. 

She worked and worked, in the tavern, on the market, wherever she could find work. But never on a boat. No one would hire her. No one trusted her. 

When she turned sixteen, her parents decided to marry her off. One of the young fishermen had found it in his heart to forgive her, and had found her desirable enough to be his wife. 

She begged her parents not to send her away, that she was sorry for everything. That she would always listen and behave. She would do anything they asked, she promised, just let her have her freedom. But her parents refused her pleas. Soon after that, she was married.

Her husband was a good man. He was a tall redhead with a bright smile and a stubborn character. He treated his wife with care, but never allowed her to rule over him. Within a year after their marriage Aomine gave birth to their first child.

As the crying bundle laid in her arms, she couldn't help but hate it. She didn't love her husband. She didn't love her child. She was bound to him and this life. 

And it was all Kise's fault. 

Her hatred for the mermaid grew, as her child grew as well. Her husband was blessed with good luck and their fortune grew, and he built a small fleet. Shortly after Aomine had given birth to their second child, he was asked to visit a neighboring city to create new trade ways. He was sure, he could leave his wife alone. The maid would attend to their children, while she rested.

Each morning the maid would take care of the children, and go for a walk with them. Each morning Aomine waited until she was gone, to gather everything she needed. On the third day, she took the smallest of her husband's boats and set sail.  
In her boat was a net and a spear. It was all she needed, she told herself. She would capture Kise, and if she refused, she would kill her. 

Her whole situation was Kise's fault. The husband, the children, the humiliation. 

Past The Wife's Despair, she waited. The sun began to fade, but Kise didn't appear. The night fell, but still nothing. With her spyglass she saw lanterns on the shore, people were searching for her. 

A shudder racked her body. She was not going back. If they tried to drag her back into that life, she would kill them with her spear, she decided. 

“Hello.” said a voice, startling her.

In one swift motion, she threw the net and raised the spear. 

Quickly Kise ducked and swam further away from the boat.

“It's all your fault!” Aomine yelled at her. “This would never have happened, if it wasn't for you!”

Kise watched her with unreadable eyes. Not getting any closer to the boat, nor swimming away any further. She was as beautiful as Aomine remembered her to be. Her blond her fanning around her in the water, and her skin luminescent in the disappearing light. 

“I was waiting for you.” said Kise. “But you never came back.”

“Are you stupid?” Aomine screamed. “Because of you everyone treated me like an idiot, like I had a disease! My parents hate me! They never let me go to the sea anymore! They made me marry a man, I don't even love! I even had to have his children!”

Her voice echoed over the water. As she drew ragged breaths, she realized that her cheeks were wet. 

“It's all your fault.” she sobbed. “It's all your fault... all your fault...”

“I was waiting.” repeated Kise. “All this time. You didn't come back.”

“It's all your fault.” murmured Aomine. “All your fault.”

“Do you want me to make it right again?” asked Kise and swam closer to Aomine. 

Aomine stared at her. The spear was still in her hand and all it would take was a single motion. Kise was within her reach. It would only be a moment and everything would be over. 

But she never threw the spear. The golden shimmer, she remembered so well from her childhood, still surrounded Kise. She was still breathtaking, still everything Aomine remembered her to be.

She could kill her right here. It would all be over.

“Do you want me to make it right again?” asked Kise, as she touched the boat's railing.

There was only one way to make it right.

“Yes.” said Aomine.

Cold arms embraced her. Cold lips kissed her forehead. Kise's beautiful voice filled the air. A lullaby for Aomine, as they slowly sank into the water.


End file.
